The quick Christmas muffins are delicious and soft treats rich in raisins, candied fruits, and flavors, perfect for the upcoming holidays. The recipe is really simple; you just need two bowls, a spoon, and a few minutes to get a soft, fluffy, and delicious dough.
A simple alternative to leavened goods that require time and dedication. If you want, you can use the dough to make a cake or a bundt cake like I did with my no-rise panettone cake, a real treat.
Perfect for breakfast, you can use them as a base to transform into cupcakes with colorful frosting and lots of Christmas-themed decorations. The base I used is from the five-minute cake enriched with ingredients reminiscent of panettone; if you prefer, you can replace the butter with oil.
Try also the other Christmas desserts:
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 12 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Electric Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Fall, Winter, Christmas
- Energy 237.07 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 40.54 (g) of which sugars 23.16 (g)
- Proteins 3.58 (g)
- Fat 7.93 (g) of which saturated 4.81 (g)of which unsaturated 3.10 (g)
- Fibers 3.33 (g)
- Sodium 13.35 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 70 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup whole milk
- 1/3 cup butter (very soft or 1/3 cup of peanut oil)
- 2 eggs (medium)
- 3/4 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup candied fruits (mixed orange and citron)
- 1 packet baking powder
- 1 tsp orange zest (grated)
- 1 tsp lemon zest (grated)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp flour (to flour the raisins)
- to taste vanilla powdered sugar
Tools
- 2 Bowls
- 2 Small Bowls
- 1 Hand Whisk
- 1 Muffin Pan with 12 liners
Procedure
Wash the raisins and place them in a small bowl covered with hot water (if you like, you can add two tablespoons of rum) for 30 minutes. Drain the water, squeeze the raisins very well, and pat dry with some kitchen paper.
Cut the candied fruits into small cubes, about 1/6 inch.
Grate the orange and lemon zest onto a small plate.
In a bowl, mix the baking powder with the flour and set aside.
In the other bowl, pour the sugar, add the eggs and mix well with a fork, then add the milk, soft butter, vanilla, and citrus zests (you can replace the flavors with the ones you prefer), incorporating everything with a hand whisk.
Pour the liquid ingredients into the bowl with the solid ingredients and mix with the whisk to obtain a homogeneous batter.
Flour the raisins and sift them to remove excess flour.
Add the raisins and candied fruits to the mixture, stirring briefly.
Pour the batter into the liners placed in the muffin pan.
Bake the muffins in a preheated static oven at 350°F for about 15/18 minutes or until lightly golden.
Do the toothpick test to check for doneness, if necessary extend the baking time by a few minutes.
The quick Christmas muffins are ready, let them cool completely, dust with powdered sugar, and serve. If you want to make them even more delicious, you can garnish them with a mascarpone frosting.
Tips
Storage
The quick Christmas muffins keep at room temperature for 3 days under a glass dome.
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